The Run to Melbourne: November 8-14

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8

Rest day.

Early rise for the Mexican Grand Prix at 6 am.

Following another victory to Max Verstappen, it appears increasingly likely that the Mercedes-Lewis Hamilton dynasty will conclude at seven seasons.

It was a tired afternoon at work off limited sleep, though running deliveries for most of the duration kept me busy.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9

I woke feeling more energised for an earlier night.

The run was set for a tempo, and whilst I was bearing in mind Thursday’s looming smorgasbord of 400’s at the track with Vigor - one of the toughest workouts I’ve encountered, it was difficult not to get moving in some fine conditions.

My pace increased in roughly five second intervals into 4:00 approaching the turnaround, before I kicked down a little harder, peaking with a 3:40.

I backed out soon after to keep the legs fresh, winding up with 15.15 km @ 4:11.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

The deluge had well and truly set in so there was no avoiding a dip outside.

I caught up with Dion, who hasn’t enjoyed much downtime since the lockdown easing. Mind you, he still finds time to knock out a lazy 180-200 km weekly!

This helped to ignore the forgettable conditions even if hearing each other was at a premium.

The heart rate pleasingly remained below 140 bpm despite the pace increase returning with a southerly tail, though it did spike towards the end. 17.03 km @ 4:31 was an ideal hitout.

Once Dion had racked up a few more km, takeaway coffee at the local in the relentless downpour capped the morning.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11

6 x 20 second morning strides to sharpen up for the evening date with the grim reaper in the form of 15 x 400 m.

I spent a portion of the day resolving the myGov link to My Health Record in order to access my proof of COVID vaccination certificate - having being double vaccinated for the best part of a month, which would prove important for later in the evening.

Taking PT across town for training was a nice respite from the peak hour drive, especially ahead of the job at hand and allowing for some reading accompanied by the latest ‘Inside Running Podcast.’

With the track saturated with all comers on my arrival, I opted to hit the Yarra Bend for warm up.

There hadn’t been much thought afforded to the target pace window for the 400’s, simply emerging on the other side was the primary concern!

73 seconds through the first rep was a nice sighter, yet it didn’t take long for the reality of the rapid fire turnaround operating on a two minute cycle to take effect…

69-70 seconds were straddled for the balance of the first set, after which an additional two minutes were gratefully accepted!

68” to commence the second got the lactic acid firing, so it was for the best that the subsequent three reps didn’t breach that.

Buoyed by another impending extended breather, a few of us were keen off the line as the tenth rep registered what proved to be a personal session best of 66”.

The fire was well and truly rising during the reluctant start to the final set as the cumulative fatigue set in. 69-70“ were acceptable returns across the first four reps, and the relief of approaching the final lap was palpable on everyone’s face!

Following a tank emptying equal session PB of 66” to sign off, the job was done.

Instead of placing the feet up and reflecting on one of the hardest workouts I’ve ever known, it was time to scrub up and haul arse over to Carlton to catch Daniel Craig’s James Bond swansong, ‘No Time To Die’ at IMAX, with Kurt Jungling in tow.

After arriving at the session late, he’d operated on double time to smash out an impressive ten reps off minimal recovery - as though the balance of the two minute cycle was too generous!

It was a shame when he confided to me that he was a scratching from the Melbourne Marathon, though a continuation of his progress in recent weeks leaves the scope for a big track 5 km PB later in summer before another marathon tilt.

Having started the marathon journey together in 2012, the quest to help him jag a sub three is as big a goal as any personal objectives!

As is tradition, we cut it fine arriving at IMAX after a hasty dinner stop - my first dine in experience post lockdown.

This was my first trip to the cinemas since the onset of the pandemic. Ironically, the last film I’d seen there was the excellent ‘Knives Out’, also starring Craig.

All I can say for the film is that whilst it fell short of the best of the Craig era, it was an epic theatre experience, not least the IMAX filmed scenes.

Its’ two and three quarter hour duration made for some uncomfortable squirming in my seat as time passed, as the rigours of the workout made itself known!

Following a decent walk from IMAX to Flinders Street Station, we hadn’t accounted for a lack of trains until nearing sunrise… which were ostensibly continuing to operate on pandemic timetables.

We went our separate ways from there, each left to seek alternative methods of transport home. I struggled to line up a not so inexpensive surge priced Uber as the downpour set in, but at that hour I was done so I copped the hit.

Getting in the door after 01:30 amounted to one of my latest nights in a while!

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12

I forced myself up at a reasonable hour to maintain some structure to the day, greeted by conditions not far removed from the destructive forces experienced a fortnight earlier!

10 km @ 4:48 felt like a lot longer being savaged by the wind, though the body was generally sound accounting for the previous evening.

As the rain settled in for the long haul, I was glad to have the day off with the energy levels generally depleted.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13

The shift to a later start of Saturday work trading hours was music to my ears, allowing me to avoid the usual scramble to get out of bed and bank 15 km or so by around 7:30.

A slight procrastination as the rain continued to fall with varying intensity briefly led to considering a treadmill run, though I sucked it up and commenced my stretches hoping for an easing.

It proved a fortuitous call as the rain ceased almost entirely within a couple of kilometres.

Near maximum humidity and an abundance of lakes on all paths made for an adventure, yet the legs felt sharp with the benefit of the southerly behind me so I was able to kick it down into mid 3:50’s with relative comfort.

That illusion was rapidly shattered on turnaround, with 4:00 pace feeling like close to 3:30 effort. I cursed the “(insert appropriate profanity here) wind”, which I remind the self titled quintessential ‘good honest toiler’ runner, Mark Berry - don’t let him make you believe he’s retired, all too frequently!

15 clicks at 4:04 did the job with Sunday’s long run in mind.

The working day amounted to a relative fizzer, with most deterred by the forgettable conditions.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14

Managing to rise just past 6, I made it to the familiar stomping ground of Albert Park at 6:50 to tackle the long run, with Xavier Meade and Simon Hanns for company - at least during the warm up.

With a strong westerly wind forecast for something different, we were already apprehensive about what fate awaited us around the notorious Lakeside Drive, so our enthusiasm at its calmness on the warm up lap proved… optimistic.

Two blocks of 10 km - ideally in two km increments at and then above goal Melbourne pace, were on the agenda.

It started promisingly enough as I registered multiple 3:25’s, which would be the perfect pace on race day.

The first sub mara pace set was probably too eager with a 3:17 and 3:20, though the first taste of the Lakeside resistance was in play, and this was reflected with a 3:32.

I over compensated for this by recording another 3:20 with my perceived effort affected by the wind, and a further two 3:20’s back under MP effort were nothing if not consistent.

Reaching the five km float was timely, allowing me to devour the solitary Maurten gel of the morning.

I was able to maintain a steady pace around 3:50, which felt slower coming off the earlier pace, at least where I wasn’t being swallowed by the wind.

My stomach experienced some mild discomfort as I approached the start of the second block, though it never eventuated into anything that would curtail the effort.

By this point, the wind had increased so much that I’d given up on any formal waxing on/off pace zones and decided to run to feel.

The result was a generally consistent 10 km with several km either side of - or at 3:25. With the westerly onslaught in full beast mode entering the final km, it took almost everything to end with a 3:29 as the legs started to feel less than robust.

A steady cool down resulted in 36 km @ 3:44/km and 2:14 on the feet and an 111 km week.

With just two more long runs in this whirlwind Melbourne campaign, next week’s focus will be more about banking time than intensity.

What I will say is that I was extremely impressed with how well the Saucony Endorphin Pro (2) Plus - a real mouthful but certainly not a handful, held up over a longer distance, having only previously utilised them in track sessions.

I’d been set on utilising the Nike Next % 2 as I did in the time trial, though this morning has provided some food for thought.

Post coffee and one of the best almond croissants in the business with Xavier at The South Melbourne Bakery on Clarendon St were just reward for our efforts.

By the time of publication, the conditions outside had become diabolical, so whilst it was testing in the morning, it had nothing on the hard time we’d have experienced had it arrived earlier.

28 days until Melbourne!